12/21/24
June 12, 2003
Steve Phillips FINALLY fired.: What the hell took them so long? How long do you have to stay in last place? Can we bring in someone that knows what they are doing now, and not someone who likes overpaying for players past their prime?
Someone must have gotten hold of Phillips' negatives. I never wanted to see Fred Wilpon naked anyway. Well, maybe a little.
posted by yerfatma at 05:32 PM on June 12, 2003
yerfatma! Don't spoil my pristine image of you.
posted by billsaysthis at 07:21 PM on June 12, 2003
Maybe if they fired that clown a couple of months ago they could of won them all 11-0.
posted by 86 at 10:04 PM on June 12, 2003
Great news! With a Duquette at the helm, nothing can possibly go wrong!
posted by Jugwine at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2003
The word on Jim Duquette is that he's a living, breathing, personable human being. Even if that's all just smoke, it sounds like they upgraded him to Duquette 2.0, so don't give up hope yet.
posted by yerfatma at 11:04 AM on June 13, 2003
The Mets' problems will take at least one more GM firing to fix...that's the sad thing; whoever takes this job, even if they do a good job, has so much work to do that there's really no hope for them keeping their job until the "glory days".
posted by therev at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2003
I don’t think anyone is fooling Duquette into thinking it’s a sure thing that he will be the Mets GM next year. He knows he has about six months to right the ship, make some solid moves and impress the powers that be just enough to stay on board for ’04 and beyond. Meanwhile there are a lot of people out there in talk radio land and all over the local sports networks wondering aloud about replacing a problem with one of his minions. Initially this didn’t make much sense to me, but when I started looking more closely at the Mets it became a bit clearer. The Mets stink. There is no doubting it. Burnitz, Vaughn, Cedeno (slowly getting better). Alomar and on down the line… Obviously, someone needs to take the fall for this stupidity. But hidden beneath this fat, pockmarked, downright ugly surface is a reason to hope. Over the last few years the Mets have adequately restocked their minor league system and actually have a few talents they can hang their hats on for the future. The recently called-up Jose Reyes was last year’s minor league player of the year. Danny Garcia (2B, AAA) is getting more and more attention. And for once, there are more reasons to hope than just a couple of tradable commodities. They’ve really changed the system and throughout all the levels there are a couple of highlighted names that get the scouts excited. We fans are starting to see some of that now. The youngsters who’ve won spots or who have been filling in for injured megastars are proving they can play. And it’s been more fun to watch them lose than it ever was watching fat Mo lumber around the bases. I’ve watched maybe a half-dozen Mets games over the last year and three of those games were this week. Finally, I’m excited about this team and think stink to high heaven. I’d much rather watch the new blood out there showing hustle and promise than the used up crap they’ve served me for too long now. I’m not sure if Duquette is the one that deserves the credit for the revamped system, but assuming that was his area or a partly his area, I can see the interim tag being a small reward for those efforts. And a well-deserved one, by the looks of it.
posted by 86 at 12:34 PM on June 13, 2003
"We don't precisely know that as a science, obviously, but we have the feeling and I have the feeling that Jim has served his time," Wilpon said. Wow, has anyone ever so concisely summed up a stint with the Mets? "Served his time?" And I think the fact that you left Steve Phillips in charge for so long shows that, yes, you don't exactly have it down to a science. I have to agree with 86, though. New York is doing the right thing with its farm sysetm, and I would hope Duquette plans to unload a couple fat boys for more prospects. If they can stay the course and bite it for a year or two, this team will rise again. Here's the Newsday Bio on the guy.
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:46 PM on June 13, 2003
This year is a wash already, seems that assistant gm Jim Duquette will take over. Maybe next year.